BHS lacrosse players suspended

Friday

Jun 6, 2014 at 5:28 PMJun 11, 2014 at 3:17 PM

By Martha Shanahan and Jennie Oemigbeverly@wickedlocal.com

Following a celebratory post-graduation cigar, two Beverly High School lacrosse players were suspended from athletic activities last Thursday.A photo of Nick Donovan and Dylan Jutras, along with two classmates, smoking cigars after the commencement ceremony on June 1 was published in last week's Beverly Citizen.Due to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) rules governing the use of tobacco, the decision was made to suspend Jutras and Donovan for the remainder of the lacrosse season.Students who play for MIAA member schools are forbidden to consume alcohol, tobacco or non-prescribed drugs be suspended from 25 percent of remaining regular season games or removed completely from tournament games scheduled at the time of the infraction, according to MIAA spokesperson Paul Wetzel.Wetzel could not confirm the suspensions, but said that it is the responsibility of local athletic directors and principals to enforce MIAA rules.Beverly lacrosse coach John Pynchon did not immediately confirm the suspensions. However, following Beverly's win over Marblehead on Saturday, he issued his one and only statement regarding what he deemed "cigar gate.""Dylan Jutras and Nick Donovan, despite not playing in the game, were instrumental in the team's success today," he said. "Both could have made a tough situation much harder, but they made a selfless decision to put their team first. Despite attempts by many outsiders to make this into a international crisis, these two young men acted as the true gentlemen, teammates and adults that they are. I could not be prouder of Dylan and Nick and I could not be prouder of this group of men as a whole.Pynchon ended his statement with the Latin phrase, "ubi concordia, ibi victoria," which means "where there is unity, there is victory."After defeating Marblehead and securing the MIAA Division 2 North championship, the Panthers moved on to the sectional finals, facing Hingham on Tuesday.The Panthers fell to the Harbormen, 9-8, in overtime; both Jutras and Donovan were dressed and on the sidelines for the game, but did not play.Neither Beverly athletic director James Coffey or BHS principal Sean Gallagher could not be reached for comment regarding this matter.